


Shelter

by deepestfathoms



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Caffeine Addiction, Caretaking, Domestic Fluff, Exhaustion, Gen, Headaches & Migraines, Mom Friend Katherine Howard, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Sleep Deprivation, Soft Catherine of Aragon, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tour!Kat Is A Mother Hen, Vomiting, kat wanted to be a mommy, patricia........., this is the tour!verse babyyyyyyyy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:49:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26919112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepestfathoms/pseuds/deepestfathoms
Summary: Howard and Aragon tend to a certain sleepy MD who drank seven Rockstar energy drinks. In the process, Howard admits something about herself from the past.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Shelter

“When was the last time you slept, young lady?”

The young music director hunched over the table, turned her head slowly and blinked blearily up at the two queens standing in her dressing room. Her face was ghostly pale, more so than usual, making the black bags under her eyes more prominent, like onyxes buried in snow. Someone passing by might have even thought she had twin black eyes. Her hair was a complete mess, knotted and tangled, despite her having brushed it for the show that day, and hanging in thick, greasy locks at the sides of her head.

She looked utterly exhausted and unwell.

“I dunno,” Joan mumbled, shrugging her shoulders sluggishly. Her eyelids kept drooping over her dull grey eyes; her entire body kept begging her for sleep, but she refused.

“How many of these have you had?” Aragon asked, peering into the trashcan full of empty Rockstar cans.

“Umm,” Joan counted on her fingers. “I don’t know. Seven?”

Howard’s eyes widened. “Seven?” She repeated shrilly, making Joan flinch back. “It’s only just turning one! You’ve had seven already?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Joan said, not making eye contact. “Not that big a deal… Just energy drinks… I need energy.”

“It  _ is  _ a big deal, Joan.” Howard said firmly. “So much of this stuff can  _ kill you. _ ”

“300mg of caffeine,” Aragon read from one of the cans, whistling. “Kid, you gotta cut down on this stuff. Your little body won’t be able to handle it.”

“I’m not little.” Joan growled, gathering herself up to her full size of a menacing 5’2. Then, she faltered, winced, and pressed a hand to her temple. Howard gently touched her back.

“Sweetheart?” Howard knelt down beside her chair. “Are you alright?”

“My head just hurts,” Joan whispered, her voice quivering. “Th-that’s all.”

“It’s all that caffeine,” Aragon shook her head. “Let’s go back to the hotel, hm? We can take care of you.”

Howard nodded. “Yes, that’s a good idea, Catalina. Come on, Joan. Can you stand?”

“But...my work…” Joan cast a dismayed look at her table as Aragon hoisted her to her feet. “I have to…”

“Shh, it’s alright,” Howard calmed her. “It’ll all still be here when you feel better. Now, come on.”

Joan staggered along with Howard and Aragon, lagging behind because of her exhaustion and obvious discomfort. Howard had to slow down at one point and steady the poor, clumsy little thing when she stumbled. 

Getting to the hotel room Howard and Aragon shared for that trip was a blessing.

“Oh, honey,” Howard murmured when Joan collapsed against one of the beds. She didn’t even climb onto it entirely, just crumpled. Howard sat down next to the girl and rubbed firm circles against her back. “You’re tired, aren’t you?”

Joan, despite her condition, shook her head.

Aragon chuckled. “Someone is stubborn,” She mused while gliding to the bathroom. Howard heard her turn on the bath faucet, which made Joan’s head pop up.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Joan asked. “What’s--”   
“Shh,” Howard stroked her cheeks with her thumbs. “Catalina is running you a nice, hot bath so you can clean up and relax. Then you can snuggle up with us and get some rest. How does that sound?”

Joan shook her head. “N-no. I can’t.” She tried to stand up, but whimpered sharply and nearly collapsed again. Howard eased her back down.

“What hurts?” Howard asked.

“M-my head,” Joan whispered. “And my back…”

“Your posture probably isn’t the best, huh?” Howard said. “That stool you have to sit in for the show must really mess you up?”

Joan nodded with a tiny whine. She leaned her head against Howard’s shoulder, her entire body shuddering with exhaustion. 

“The bath is ready,” Aragon said, walking out a few minutes later. She smiled at Joan. “Come on, precious.”

Joan hobbled to the bathroom, which Howard joined her in, seeing as she was way too sleepy to bathe herself, and the last thing they wanted was for their music director to accidentally drown herself.

“That is SO RUDE!” Aragon bellowed when she was banished from the bathroom with them. “Why can’t I be in there, too?”

“Because Joan is already going to be awkward enough,” Howard said calmly. “Plus, she’s already seen me naked before from when she worked for me. It’s kind of a mutual thing. It’ll make it less weird.”

“But I wanna help!” Aragon protested, almost whining like a child, which made Howard chuckle.

“You can get some painkillers. Maybe even some lunch?” Howard suggested.

Aragon thought over it, then gave in. “Fine! But I won’t be happy about it. And I get to help next time!”

Howard laughed. “Alright, alright. Now, shoo.”

After Aragon left, Howard turned to her patient hunched on the toilet, barely awake. Howard had to help her undress and then step into the warm bathwater, which seemed to rouse her slightly.

“The director is gonna be so mad at me,” Joan groaned.

“And why is that?” Howard asked as she used a plastic cup to pour water over Joan’s head.

“Falling behind on work,” Joan answered, fumbling with her words slightly. “‘E’s not gonna take me seriously, Kat…”

“He’ll understand that you needed to take a small break to take care of yourself,” Howard said. “And, besides, won’t you be able to do more work with rest? You’ll be even more efficient than you are now!”

Joan shrugged. “Maybe…” She let out an adorable yawn.

Howard chuckled. She began scrubbing vanilla-scented shampoo into Joan’s hair, washing out all the grease and oil that had coated the white-blonde locks. Joan began to coo as she massaged her scalp.

“Relaxing, isn’t it?” Howard said, keeping her voice soft.

“Mhm…” Joan agreed sleepily. “Really nice…”

“You are so cute.” Howard said, and Joan appeared to be too tired to be flustered over the comment. 

Silence fell over the bathroom as Howard washed the young music director. She took note of how skinny Joan still was, though she supposed what it was like having a high metabolism. Joan had stated several times that she always stayed thin no matter how much she ate, which she didn’t particularly like because she wanted to gain more muscle and body fat, since she didn’t exactly have much of either. To Howard and Aragon, her body type was worrying. She looked like she would snap in half like a twig if she so much as got pat on the back a little too hard.

“Kat…?” Joan’s voice came, so soft and wry.

“Yes, sweetie?” Howard replied.

“Is--is there any water?” Joan swallowed thickly. “I feel kinda funny…”

Howard made a sympathetic noise. All that caffeine must be kicking poor Joan’s ass.

“Yeah, lemme go get some. I’ll be right back.”

Howard was only gone for a minute or so, but that was enough time for Joan to leap out of the bathtub and crash onto the floor. Howard heard her thump against the ground as she grabbed a water bottle and quickly rushed back into the bathroom to find Joan hunched over the toilet, dripping wet, shaking uncontrollably, and throwing up.

“Oh, sweetheart…”

Howard went to Joan’s side instantly, wrapping a towel around her naked, shivering body. She gathered Joan’s freshly-cleaned hair out of the way and tied it back with a ponytail sitting on the sink counter.

“Just let it up,” Howard said gently, rubbing circles against Joan’s upper back.

“I’m t--” Joan was cut off by a hiccup that brought up a torrent of sick, and she could barely catch her breath before she threw up again.

“There you go,” Howard soothed. “Good girl. Remember to breathe, honey.”

“There’s nothing left,” Joan panted after a few moments of heaving. She collapsed back into Howard’s arms.

“I know,” Howard said, running her fingers through Joan’s soaked hair. “Your poor tummy. Are you feeling any better after getting all that out?”

Joan shrugged weakly. “K-kinda? I’m still really tired and my head hurts…”

“Catalina will be back soon with medicine,” Howard said.

And, speak of the devil, Aragon came in a few moments later, loaded with plastic bags on her wrists.

“I’m back!” The gold queen called in a sing-song, Welsh-tinged voice. She peered through the door Howard had left half open. “Woah. What did I miss? Is everything okay?” She gave Joan a worried look.

“Our Joey may be just a little caffeine overdosed,” Howard said.

“Oh, poor thing,” Aragon bustled inside the bathroom with the bags and kneeled besides the pair. She gently caressed one of Joan’s cheeks. “Hey, baby girl. Not feeling too great, huh?”

Joan shook her head with a whimper. 

“I’m going to go get the bed ready for her,” Howard said. “Can you take her? And give her some painkillers.”

Aragon nodded and wrapped Joan’s quaking, towel-swathed body into her arms. Joan instantly curled into her warmth and Aragon smiled.

“You heard the boss,” Aragon said jokingly. “Let’s get some medicine in you.”

Joan obliged and took a few tablets of Ibuprofen, then promptly curled back up in Aragon’s arms, which she remained in until Howard came back in saying the bed was ready. Aragon carried her to the bed after helping her get dressed.

“Sorry for being so much trouble…” Joan said guiltily.

“Nonsense.” Aragon said. “No trouble at all.”

“We want to help you feel better, sweetie.” Howard added. 

Joan didn’t look completely convinced, but nodded anyway. She yawned adorably.

“Get some sleep, sweet girl.” Aragon said.

Joan listened, and fell asleep within a few minutes, curled between Howard and Aragon.

“I always wanted a daughter.”

Aragon looked up at Howard curiously. “Really?”

“Mhm,” Howard nodded, smiling. She stroked Joan’s hair with a loving look in her eyes. “I wanted to have a daughter so I could give her a better life than I had. I was going to spoil her so much. She would be my little princess. Hopefully a Mini Me. I thought that would have been cute.” She chuckled. “I was thinking of the name Patricia.”

Aragon burst into laughter so loud that Joan stirred and whined softly in her sleep. Howard gave her a scolding look.

“Sorry, sorry,” Aragon said through giggles. “It’s just--  _ Patricia?  _ Really?”

Howard lifted her nose haughtily. “Yes! I thought it was a very unique name for that time! You don’t run into very many Patricia’s!”

Aragon laughed again.

“Do not laugh at me!” Howard barked. “I bet you’re just jealous that you didn’t come up with such a creative name. You went with _Mary._ _Yuck!_ So boring! So bland! Where’s the originality?”

Aragon continued to laugh, so much so that she actually started to snort, which then made Howard laugh. Between them, Joan whined, then raised a sluggish hand to swat at them.

“Be quiet,” The music director whined. “I’m try’na sleep!”

“Sorry, baby,” Howard softened her voice. She smoothed back Joan’s hair. “Go back to sleep. We’ll be quiet.”

Joan mumbled something else, then promptly conked out again. Aragon laughed softly.

“So grumpy!” Aragon said. “But back to you wanting a daughter!”

Howard nodded. “It never happened, clearly. But I still sometimes wish. Maybe it’s because I’m in an adult body now. I have a chance at motherhood.” She smiled lovingly down at Joan. “I guess my prayers were answered.”

“She’s no Patricia,” Aragon said, and Howard whacked her arm.

“She’s better than any Patricia,” Howard said. “She’s so precious. I’m lucky to have her.”

Aragon smiled. “We both are. I’m glad I get another chance to be a proper mother.”

“Even though you’re kind of a brat at times.”

“Oi! Rude!”

Howard laughed. “Sorry, sorry! But I’m happy for you, Catalina. Really.”

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, either gazing down at Joan’s peaceful form or watching the TV.

“I can’t believe you wanted to have a Princess Patricia.”

“Oh-- Shut up!”


End file.
